ASP Title Race on the Line: What Needs to Happen for Whom

With the ASP Title year coming to a close, the possibilities have whittled down to a permutative few. Mick Fanning is still leading by a fair margin, with Kelly Slater trailing in the nearest 2nd.

However, both Mick and Kelly suffered surprise 1st round losses in Portugal earlier today- which has the shortlist of other surfers in contention for the ASP Title frothing. (This list includes, in order: Jordy Smithy, Taj Burrow, and Joel Parkinson.)

Here is a breakdown of possible outcomes and scenarios:

1. Mick Fanning comes in 1st place at the RipCurl Pro Portugal 2013:-Kelly Slater will have to come in 3rd or better at the event, or Mick wins for the year

-Jordy, Taj, and Parko are out no matter where they finish

2. Mick comes in 2nd at the RipCurl Pro Portugal 2013:

-Kelly will have to come in 9th place or better to stay in the running for this year's title

-Jordy will have to come in 1st place to stay in the running

-Taj and Parko are out no matter where they finish

3. Mick comes in 3rd at the RipCurl Pro:

-Kelly will still need 9th or better to stay in the running

-Jordy, Taj, and Parko all need to come in first at Portugal to stay in the running

4. Mick comes in 5th or worse at the RipCurl Pro:

-The ASP World Title will be decided at Pipeline

-Even if Kelly comes comes in 25th at Portugal, he can still win for the year over Mick.-Jordy, Taj, and Parko can still win for the year- but will have to absolutely crush it at both events. How high they need to place at each event will vary depending on where Mick and Kelly place, but there's not much wiggle room.

Kelly Slater in his 1st round loss in Portugal. Photo: ASP

There are still some possibilities in the air, but every one of these guys will have to surf really well in the next few days, and a Round 2 win tomorrow is pretty much a necessity for Kelly Slater...